Congratulations, you've decided to seek help for your drug or alcohol addiction. This is the first step toward a positive life of sobriety. It's important to know that coming clean isn't an easy road. However, by choosing a professional treatment center and having an open mind, you can achieve a sober life sooner than later.

Choosing a Professional Addiction Treatment Program

Finding a supportive and successful drug & alcohol treatment program isn't hard. You need to seek out a place that has professionals that will support you, accept you for who you are, and encourage you to become sober. A good treatment center will empathize with you and help you to solve the issues behind your drug or alcohol addiction. There are two different types of treatment centers: inpatient or out-patient services. In-patient is where a patient will stay during their recovery process, while out-patient services are for those seeking help, but not to live within the center. Both types of treatments have deemed to be effective.

What To Expect When You First Arrive at The Treatment Center

First of all, a center will mostly keep your information confidential. An initial counseling session will be administered where a tailor-made treatment plan will be devised. During this counseling session, you will be asked questions on how you became addicted, why you want to quit and what will help you to do so.

After this initial session, your withdrawal & detoxification process will begin. If you choose to stay within the center, you will live on-site as you experience withdrawal symptoms. Their professional staff will administer you medications that will help you through the process.

Detoxification is not an easy process, however if you're decided to coming clean, you will fight through it. Many addicts choose to give in and use again because the withdrawal symptoms are too difficult. However, keep in mind, that every time you choose to try to come clean again, you will have to experience the same symptoms. Why not experience them only once?

Addiction Counseling and Therapy Sessions

You will most likely participate in group therapy where you will meet other addicts. This is intended for you to have a support system within the center and also to learn about addiction and recovery. If you have others around you that will keep you accountable, you will be more likely to stay on the right path to sobriety.

You also will relate to many of the things that others will share and this will create a safe place for you to share things that you may never have before.

To ensure you will have support outside of the center, you may have family counseling sessions. This is where your family will come in and have therapy sessions with you. This will allow them to learn how to show you support during your recovery and allow you all to discuss things that may have occurred as a result of your addiction. This can be a powerful tool to get your life back to normal when you return home after treatment. Many centers will follow-up with patients for a given period of time after leaving to ensure they are still sober and doing ok.

Road to Addiction Recovery

After choosing a treatment center and following their professional advice for recovery, you're home. Surround yourself around supportive, sober individuals who will encourage you in your pursuit to continued sobriety. Visit Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) to obtain a sponsor who will keep you accountable for your actions.

And lastly, keep your mind positive and busy. The more productive of a person you are, the less likely you will want to use or drink again, and the more likely you will continue to be sober. Remember that recovery takes both time and patient, however keeping one's commitment to their loved ones and themselves is important.

Also, if you do relapse, try again. Don't give up on being sober, you owe it to yourself.

Topic Discussion

Donita Knowe
March 28th, 2012

My friend of 40 years has finally sought treatment for drug addiction. He has done every drug, and to beat that addiction, he would get addicted to something else. His daily usage could have killed a horse, no amount was enough. He loves methadone, and if that's the drug they use to wean him off with, it won't work, his addiction to that will return, and he will most likely leave rehab to return to this addiction. He was addicted to, and used meth and methadone at the same time. I hope he stays there, and gets clean and well, but I have never seen anything so pathetic in my life as a grown man controlled by drugs as he is. Not looking forward to the new friends he will be meeting and keeping in contact with after treatment. He has been in prison many times and many friends he made there looked him up after release, and it wasn't about being reformed. Criminal minds think alike. As you can tell , I can't imagine him ever going or being straight, and the lying and deceitfulness ever stopping, but I guess time will tell. I wish him well.

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